Today, Minor League Baseball announced its players of the week for every league between all four levels of the minors. Three Royals’ prospects were recognized for their outstanding performance, while no other organization had more than two. In Low-A, Hunter Patteson was awarded pitcher of the week for the Carolina League; in High-A, Ben Kudrna was awarded pitcher of the week for the Midwest League; in Triple-A, Logan Porter was awarded hitter of the week for the International League. It is encouraging to see Royals’ prospects, and their teams, get off to a great start this season.
Hunter Patteson was drafted by the Royals in the 5th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. He was limited to 18.1 IP in 2023 due to injury but is off to a strong start in 2024. This past week was a memorable one for Patteson on the mound, reflected by his stellar stat line of 9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K. That is nearly a perfect game between his two appearances. Patteson looks in complete control at the Low-A level and should see a call-up to High-A soon.
Ben Kudrna, the No. 3 prospect for the Royals, also had an impressive start last week: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Just absolute dominance from Kudrna and Patteson. Kudrna has been notably steady throughout his minor league career, holding a career 3.82 ERA in 190.2 IP. His hot start to 2024 is encouraging, as the Royals would like to see their top prospects having their way in the lower levels of the minor leagues. If Kudrna has a few more starts looking close to this, he will likely be heading to NW Arkansas sooner rather than later.
Logan Porter, a long-time Royals prospect, made his MLB debut with the Royals in September of 2023. With the way things have started for Porter in 2024, he may get another opportunity at the big-league level this season. Last week, Porter’s slash line was .533/.650/.1400 with a 2.050 OPS. Those are almost unfathomable numbers. Porter is doing all he can to prove himself worthy of the big-league roster and is helping the Storm Chasers get off to a hot start in the process.
Image credit: Quad Cities River Bandits
